Heath Andrews settles in, posts impressive start to lead NC State over Duke in series-clinching win

Jacob Dudan, clad in his home white NC State uniform and red stirrups, stood at the end of the dugout in the top of the first inning with Duke’s batting order preparing to stride into the box. He looked as if he was ready to trot out onto the mound just as he did 57 times before over the last three seasons as the Wolfpack’s flame-throwing right-hander. 

But, instead, this is where he was relegated to the entire game, just as he was the night before. And it’s where he’ll be the rest of the season. 

Dudan, a likely early-round MLB draft pick this summer, was ruled out for the remainder of the campaign with an elbow injury earlier Thursday evening after imaging resulted in a need for Tommy John surgery. But despite receiving the news that no pitcher wants to hear 48 hours earlier, Dudan turned into NC State’s biggest cheerleader on the day that was supposed to be his next scheduled start. 

And he had plenty to make noise about it, especially after he relocated to the top row of the bench for the final six frames. NC State earned an 18-5 run-rule win over Duke on Saturday afternoon, clinching the team’s second straight ACC series victory. 

While Dudan wasn’t able to back up his stellar 7.2-inning outing against Notre Dame from last weekend, which is likely his last appearance in the Pack’s red and white, junior righty Heath Andrews was more than ready to fill his role in the rotation. He moved up from his Sunday spot that he owned this spring, but the third-year arm returned to the very starting slot that he commanded a year ago. 

Andrews, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound starter, put together one of his best outings in an NC State uniform in the process. While he weathered conceding four runs in the first two innings — the second marred by shaky defense behind him — Andrews settled in and became the most-dominant version of himself to date. 

The Fincastle, Va., native retired 15 straight batters from the third inning until he was one out away from a complete-game effort in the seven inning contest. He gave up a walk and RBI double before being lifted, but by that point, the game was well in hand — and he left to a loud ovation from the 3,007 fans in attendance at the program’s Victory Over Cancer game. 

So yes, his final line of five runs (four earned) on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts is slightly misleading. It doesn’t quite illustrate his response to thinking he induced a double play twice in the second inning to become the Blue Devils’ kryptonite for nearly the rest of his outing.

For NC State skipper Elliott Avent, that’s exactly what he was looking to see out of Andrews on the mound.

“It says everything about him, and it’s who he’s always been,” Avent said. “His command of the fastball was as good as I remember seeing it, and the command of the slider from the third [inning] on, was outstanding.”

How did Andrews find a way to settle into his unhittable groove, making hitters look silly with his half dozen strikeouts and eight groundouts over the next 15 outs? It was the byproduct of positive self-talk on the back bench of the Pack’s home dugout to flush what happened over the first 10 batters he faced.

“[I] thought, ‘I can’t change the past,’” the soft-spoken starter said afterwards. “I went from there and started grinding out.”

He did more than just “grind” it out. Instead, Andrews looked calm and collected. And each out that followed, his self-belief appeared to rise, making it even easier on the defense behind him that played a clean game after the second frame.

That sense of confidence seemed to bleed over into NC State’s batting order, too. While the Wolfpack watched its starter find a groove that would keep the team in any game, its offense poured out 15 hits with three homers as it scored at least two runs in five of the six innings it came to the plate.

Freshman outfielder Rett Johnson went 4-for-4 with four runs scored and two RBI, while three others — senior outfielder Brayden Fraasman, junior second baseman Luke Nixon and sophomore shortstop Mikey Ryan — accounted for two RBI each. Oh, and junior outfielder Andrew Wiggins mashed a pinch-hit three-run homer in the sixth to cap the Pack’s offensive outburst.

But on a day in which NC State’s offense scored its most runs against a Power Conference opponent this season, the story was on the mound. Andrews dazzled in Dudan’s place, easing the minds of many in the program’s home ballpark that the third-year arm can bounce back from unlucky play to become dominant. 

Andrews, after all, had the full support from Dudan throughout his entire start. The two classmates arrived in the same recruiting class ahead of the 2023 season alongside just as effective pitchers Cooper Consiglio (who will start Sunday’s series finale with the sweep on the line) and Ryan Marohn, forging a tight-knit bond among the quality quartet of arms. 

In the transfer portal era, that’s a rarity. But it was one that was on full display on the first Saturday without one of the ACC’s best pitchers. And, in a way, he was able to impact the game with his supportive mindset — one that featured him standing on the bench to get a better view or mimicking a band conductor during several chants from the crowd — in the dugout.

“I love seeing Dudan happy,” Andrews said. “It makes me happy, it makes the whole team happy.”

Dudan’s role looks different from what he and the rest of the Wolfpack are used to. His injury, however, has led to this. Even though he can’t be on the mound to help his teammates, Dudan appears more than ready to embrace his new spot on the team — one that still brings positive energy to the roster. 

“We will miss him a lot on the field,” Avent said, “but he’ll be with us every other step of the way.”